A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mirrors of the type used by individuals to facilitate personal care tasks such as combing and brushing one's hair, applying cosmetics, shaving, installing and removing contact lenses, and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a mirror system which includes a mirror that has two discrete reflecting surfaces of differing magnifications, and a wall mounting bracket fastenable to a wall for releasably holding the mirror in a manner enabling a user to readily and interchangeably position for use a selected one of the two reflecting surfaces, and removing the mirror from the bracket for use as a free-standing mirror supported on a table top or other horizontal surface, with the mirror being readily re-orientable to interchangeably position a selected one of the two magnifying surfaces for use.
B. Description of Background Art
There are a variety of situations in which it would be desirable to have available a mirror with selectable magnifications. For example, a person who is somewhat near-sighted may wish to use a magnifying mirror to install or remove contact lenses, since ordinary flat bathroom mirrors or portable mirrors having a one-to-one, or unity magnification may be inadequate for the task. However, since the field of view of a magnifying mirror is less than that of a unity magnification mirror of the same size, the latter is preferred for certain uses. Thus, a magnifying mirror may be desirable for certain application while at other times a person may wish to have a full face view provided by a mirror having a smaller magnification. Also, a magnifying mirror having different magnifications is useful for people whose vision changes as they age. Applying cosmetics, shaving and performing other such tasks may also be facilitated by the use of a mirror having different, selectable magnifications.
One approach to satisfying the need for a personal hygiene or cosmetic mirror having different magnifications consists of a two-sided mirror, which has on one side thereof a flat mirror plate which has a unity magnification, and on the other side thereof a concave mirror plate having a magnification greater than one, the two mirror plates being arranged in a back-to-back configuration. A variety of such two-sided mirrors exist, which are intended for use while combing one's hair, applying facial makeup, or attending to other tasks related to personal hygiene or appearance. Existing mirrors of the aforementioned type have on one side thereof a flat mirror surface which provides a unity magnification, and on the other side a concave mirror surface having a magnification greater than 1, e.g., 2×,3×,4×, or 5×.
Another type of mirror known to the present inventor which has two discrete magnifications consists of a relatively large oval mirror having a first magnification, unity, for example, and a circular mirror of smaller diameter affixed to or inset into the front surface of the larger oval mirror, the smaller mirror having a concave reflective surface which provides a magnification greater than one.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/708,290 filed Sep. 7, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,996, issued May 4, 1999, the present inventor disclosed a single-sided mirror having a magnification which may be varied from unity to a substantially larger value, 5×, for example, by axially deforming a flexible mirror plate or diaphragm having a front reflective mirror surface, the deformation decreasing the focal length of the mirror. Also, the present inventor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,809, issued Oct. 23, 2001, a variety of novel mirrors with multiple selectable magnifications, which include bases for supporting the mirrors in free-standing positions on a level surface such as that of a desk or table top. However, the present inventor is unaware of any existing mirror designs which have the desirable feature of being readily interchangeably useable as a free-standing mirror or as a wall mount mirror mountable to a vertical surface such as that of a shower wall, medicine cabinet mirror, window or the like. Accordingly, the present invention was conceived of to provide a dual magnification mirror which may be placed in an upstanding position for use on any convenient horizontal supporting surface of an object such as a table and which may be readily relocated from a self-standing location on such surface and releasably attached to a wall mount bracket which is in turn releasably fastenable to a vertical surface such as a window, shower door or the like.